The Temptation of Jesus: Are You Kidding Me?

We love to read those passages about the Second Coming:  

So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. (Hebrews 9:28)

Not another crucifixion. No watching the Lamb of God be beaten. No gambling for a tunic underneath the gaze of a dying man. No crying. No cold tomb. No smell of sweet spices to mask the smell of death.

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.(1 Thess. 4:16-17)

Everyone will see Him. No more hidden glory. The earth will no longer be under the sway of death. We will finally meet with our Bridegroom and be forever with Him.

Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen. (Rev. 1:7)

Yes:  The triumphant One. Repentance and acceptance of the Lord, amidst regret and tears. Glory. Honor. Praise. 

This is what we expect of the Messiah, the King, the Beloved of God. 

But wait. Come and see.  Stand on a mountain with me and see Jesus, baptized and affirmed by the Father, is going into the desert. What? He is willingly being led there by the Spirit. Is He going there to pray? (That's acceptable.) Is He going there to talk to His Father about His upcoming ministry? (We think that is a good idea.) 

But no: Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. (Matt. 4:1)

What?  But the Father said, This is my Son, whom I love; with Him, I am well pleased. (Matt. 3:17)  How do you have these two polar opposites, the holy Father and evil itself, in the same room? But here is the reversal:  The King of Glory, took on our flesh and so identified with us that He willingly faced the devil.  We are tempted--He stepped in and was willing to be tempted as well. The One who created all manner of life and abundance, with things multiplying after their own kind, now faces hunger.  

Hunger?  The One who prepares a table in the presence of our enemies (Ps. 23), the One who sat with Moses and the elders and ate a meal (Ex. 24:1-18), the One who provided manna and quail in the desert (Ex. 16) and the One who ordained harvest and planting to never cease (Gen. 8:22) is now facing one of the most common experiences of humanity: hunger. 

That alone is cause for wonder. But let us continue.  Satan thinks he is in the driver's seat with the Son of God, who has (in his estimation) limited Himself to the point of helplessness. Humans are easily overwhelmed by hunger, fatigue and evil, and sink into helplessness so quickly--so will the Son of God, right? Satan is counting on it. 

Jesus has power (affirmed at His baptism) and now Satan insinuates that He is free to use it any way He can. He's now clothed in frail flesh, so He could use it to relieve His human needs. Stones to bread?  No problem. An immediate fix to a vexing need.

But His power is to be used to honor the Father in this redemptive drama. Jesus says, It is written: "Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." (Matt. 4:4) 

This quotation is taken from Deuteronomy 8:3: He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 

This is desert language: These are the very words spoken by God to teach His children--former slaves-- of His provision and His all-encompassing care for them. Jesus is now identifying with these former slaves: He chooses to rely on God alone to feed and care for Him and to draw sustenance from Word.  Reversal? The King of Heaven chooses to identify with slaves. 

The devil switches tactics and now uses the very Word Jesus is relying on, upping the ante with this next temptation: 

Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written:

'He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'"

Jesus replies: It is also written: "Do not put the Lord your God to the test." (Matt. 4:5-7)

Let's look at the context of each quote. The first set of verses come from Psalm 91:11-12. The verses just before the ones quoted by Satan read:

 
If you say, "The Lord is my refuge,"

and you make the Most High your dwelling,
no harm will overtake you,
no disaster will come near your tent. (Ps. 91:9-10)

The verses after the quote are:

 
You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
"Because he loves me,” says the Lord, "I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
He will call on me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.'” (Psalm 91:13-16)

Jesus is affirming that God is protecting Him because of His love and trust in the Father. The Lord is Jesus' refuge during this harsh time in the desert. All of Psalm 91 is a declaration of taking refuge and relying on Him alone for protection.  Jesus is identifying with King David, whose anointing as king was contested by Saul and resulted in his murderous pursuit of David--not unlike Satan's pursuit of Jesus now.  Reversal?  Jesus is aligning Himself with the harassed king, not the one who sat on a throne, ruling Israel from the glorious capital of Jerusalem.  

The second set of verses Jesus quotes is taken from Deuteronomy 6:16.  Again, the verses before this and after this are instructions to obey God and His decrees and if so, these former slaves will enter the land promised to them and will prosper. But they must always remember to be obedient, for God is jealous for their love and will not tolerate a descent into idolatry:  Don't test that love.  Jesus is identifying with these former slaves and modelling being obedient to all His Father commands, even to death on a cross. 

Did you notice in these verses from Psalm 91, You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent, an echo of the words spoken by God to the serpent (Satan disguised) about His redemptive plan after Adam and Eve sinned? 

And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel. (Gen. 3:15)

Satan, that roaring lion, that poisonous snake, will be vanquished one day by this very Man who now stands in this lonely desert, identifying with slaves and relying solely on His Father, not on His own power, to provide for Him.

The reversals here are breathtaking.  

Jesus meets Satan with a full repudiation of the third temptation, that somehow Satan deserves worship.  Jesus uses the words spoken by His Father to the former slaves in Deuteronomy 6:13 that only God is worthy of worship.  Here, Jesus identifies even more deeply with these former slaves: the deeper slavery to sin.  The children of Israel were led out of Egypt into freedom, but in their hearts, they were still slaves to sin.  Their status did not reflect true liberation from the greatest chains we bear as humans: our sinful nature.  Jesus is saying that there is nothing in this world that is worthy of our worship except God alone. Jesus will soon inaugurate His ministry when He reads, in the synagogue, the verses from Isaiah that He came to set the captives free.  Truly free.

The Second Coming is inspiring, but Jesus in the desert soothes my soul, for He walks with me in mine.  

His reversals should deeply comfort us, for they were done for former slaves: us.  

Reverse the Curse

Before we begin, if you think humble origins are a cause for embarrassment or shame, consider Nazareth.  The NIV study Bible makes two interesting comments about it.  First, it is not mentioned in the Old Testament.(1)  So, despite being Jesus' hometown, it is not an important place.  If the Messiah is the Son of David, wouldn't you expect Him to be born in Jerusalem? 

But no.  God went the opposite way from the world's values to bring forth redemption:

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written:

    'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
    the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.'

"Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength." (1 Cor. 1:18-25)

There's the reversal:  If wisdom could save you, then secular wisdom (hashed out by the Greeks, who loved wisdom so much they called it "philosophy") or spiritual wisdom (practiced by the Jews in light of the Torah) then Christ's death was not needed.  Wise humanity would stand redeemed before the Lord. 

But no.  Why not?  What tree did our first parents eat from?  "The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil."  The knowledge we posses, from that day forward, comes from our own assessment, our own deceived logic:

• Judges 17:6: "Everyone did what was right in his own eyes." 
• Proverbs 14:12: "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death."
• Proverbs 5:7: "Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil."
• Jeremiah 11:8: "Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but everyone walked in the stubbornness of his evil heart."

That is why our wisdom, our knowledge will never bring us to salvation:  It is bound up in us and we are corrupt. Thanks, Adam. 

So, the Messiah coming from an obscure town is part of God's plan to turn earthly wisdom on its head. 

Second, the NIV comments that the word, "Nazarene" is synonymous with "despised." (2) Wow!  We all know Nathaniel's comment that nothing good could come from there (John 1:46) but Philip tells him, "Come and see." 

That is how God has ordered things:  You can't think your way to heaven and you can't work or obey  your way to heaven. But you can come and see the Messiah: humble, despised but willing to reach out to you and to me.  

But aren't you glad?  If the King shows up, aren't you going to feel ashamed of who you are, what you've done and how you don't deserve such a visit?  In the light of Christ, our sin comes into sharp relief and we, like Adam and Eve, run and hide.  But when the humble Jesus shows up, we look into His face and we see God reaching out to bring us into His kingdom, our sins forgiven and our wholeness restored. 

Jesus always had a simple parable to illustrate a profound truth.  He told this one to push back on those who "had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else."

"Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector.  The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: 'I thank you, God, that I am not like other people—cheaters, sinners, adulterers. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.'

"But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Luke 18:9-14)

Now.  Let's look at one more thing.  How would you announce a king?  Fanfare, fireworks, extravagance!  (Think about all the hoopla with the coronation of King Charles.) But no. Jesus is announced by a man who is a desert dweller, with an outfit and a diet to match his rather odd appearance.  He rails at the rich and the smug, and encourages the meek and the lowly. 

So far, so good.  John is firmly planted in the prophetic tradition--one who is fulfilling Isaiah's words about preparing your heart for the coming of the Messiah.  Then, a man shows up, requesting baptism, and John stops. John moves from fiery prophet to humble servant and asks Jesus to baptize him. 

There's the reversal.  The prophet becomes a servant and the King becomes a humble supplicant.  Jesus, who threw the stars into space says, “'It should be done, for we must carry out all that God requires.' So John agreed to baptize him." (Matt. 3:15).

I love what the NIV says about this moment: "By his baptism Jesus completely identified himself with man's sin and failure...becoming our substitute." (3)

Wow.  The One who is the King of the universe, who created all things and in Him all things hold together (Col. 1:17) stands in a river while a man pours water over His head.  God then reminds all of us that this is His Son, His beloved. 

The Kingdom of God is built upon such reversals, and Jesus Himself embodied the ultimate reversal: The King died for us. We then become His sons and daughters, no longer children of Adam but His own.  He loves us and is well pleased as we are clothed in His righteousness. 

Come and see.  

_________________________

(1) The NIV Study Bible, New international Version. Kenneth Barker, ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Bible Publishers. 1985. 1444.

(2) Ibid. 1444.

(3) Ibid. 1446. 

Down Into Egypt

It's interesting how Jesus' parents went into Egypt to escape the mad machinations of King Herod.  He was a man totally of this world: no Kingdom values here, to be sure.  Herod thought he'd outsmarted the kings from the East:  

Gentlemen! Welcome to Palestine, and to the City of David.  I heard of your arrival and I am honored to meet with you.  The streets of this city are ablaze with talk of your arrival and your inquiries as to where the King of the Jews is to be found.  A star guided you here?  Yes, one would expect that of a royal birth. The only august presence I know of in our city is my own, of course!  I have called you here--forgive the secrecy, I just don't want my streets filling up with excitable sorts--because my chief priests and teachers of the law tell me that the Messiah, this king you must be referring to, is to be born in Bethlehem.  The prophets of old foretold this.  I must make only one request of you.  When you find him, once you arrive in Bethlehem,  please notify me of his location.  I, too, wish to pay him homage.  No, it is not very far; only about five miles.  I am honored you are in my kingdom and I look forward to your return. We will celebrate this new king together.

The world 's values are on full display here: Lying, manipulation, murderous intent hidden under a guise of humility and honor, fear, loathing and someone appointed to a position who exploits it to gain a personal advantage. Herod is the poster child for how the world thinks, acts and speaks.  He is in sharp contrast to the Magi, who are not fooled about Herod's "sincerity" and who genuinely want to meet and worship this new king.  A king, by the way, who is not a Gentile, as they are.  They are willing to make an arduous journey to worship this king, for they sense his cosmic importance, or the sky would not be hosting a star of such astonishing brightness. 

So, they represent, unknowingly, a Kingdom value:  If you search, with all of your heart, this King who you do not know or comprehend, but make the journey anyway, following His guidance, you will find Him. He is there.  

Let's follow these men to the house (sorry, not the manger; look at Matt. 2:11) and what do they do?  They worship Him!  He's a baby...but that matters not one whit.  They see with the eyes of their hearts that this is not ordinary king. 

That's a Kingdom value:  You see with your heart as it is being gently led by thew Holy Spirit--that's the key.  We can be deceived by our hearts, but with the Holy Spirit showing us the way, we can go, knowing He will take us step by step to the destination. 

Jesus warns us of a heart led by the flesh: "For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander." (Matt, 5:19).

King David knew that once the heart heads down a road of alienation from God, confession is the way back: 

"Create in me a clean heart, O God. 

Renew a loyal spirit within me.

Do not banish me from your presence,
and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me."  (Ps. 51:10-11)

Sadly, Herod, once he realizes the Magi are not going to bring him the whereabouts of the Baby, he orders the murder of all the baby boys around and in Bethlehem. That's how the world works: refused entitlement leads to hatred and hatred leads to murder. 

That is why Jesus had no tolerance for any kind of anger: "But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell." (Matt. 5:22)

Ultimately, the Kingdom of God is built on love for God and for one another: "Jesus said to him, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matt. 22:37-40)

That is the Kingdom of God in its fullest expression, its most glorious bloom.  Hatred, vainglorious desires and condemning one another draws utter disapproval from Jesus and a call to return to Him for restoration.

Final thought:  Egypt was once the land of slavery for the Jewish people. Yes, it was a safe hiding place for Jesus' family, away from Herod, but it was more than that.  Herod was a kind of Pharoah, with his desire to control people, even to the point of death if he saw the "need" (i.e., the baby boys).  

Jesus and His family sojourned there, just as the children of Israel had done.  

But He returned to the land of His birth, to be the new Moses, to lead God's people to freedom, and to establish the Kingdom of God.  Slavery to sin was never God's intent; freedom and restoration is. 

He is always ready to lead us out of slavery into His Kingdom, where love is the rule of law. His love  for us will never cease.  

Amen.

Please pray for the peace of Jerusalem. 

The Kingdom of Reversals

Shepherds. Angels, Wise Men. A little Baby in a Manger. A mother and a father looking on in adoration and wonder. Animals bathed in a warm glow. If we look beyond the malls, the sales, the hustle and bustle and stressing over who gets what, Christmas at its core is really beyond belief. 

Let us look on in adoration and wonder at who Jesus is:

"The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross." (Col. 1:15-20)

Let us continue:

"In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father." (Phil. 2:5-8)

So, let's ponder this together. Christ is what holds everything together in this universe--He created all we see and don't see and He is the reason why what exists, exists. He is the head of the church and was the first One to defeat death altogether by His resurrection. He reconciled the world to Himself through His sacrificial death.  He made peace and is peace to all who believe.

Keep thinking of that wee Baby in the manger as we ponder this. 

Then, given this divine resume, all honor and glory are due Him. But wait!  He divested Himself and became (wait for it!) a servant. Can you think of anything lower?  Here is a quick snapshot about being a servant in Jesus' day:

"Roman slavery, as it existed in the time of Christ, was comparatively unknown to the Jews. The Romans held in bondage captives taken in war, had purchased slaves. Their bondage was perpetual, and the master held unquestioned control of the person and life of his slaves. Yet large numbers were set free, and in many instances Roman freedmen rose to the highest honors" (ATS Bible Dictionary).

So, a Roman slave did not have the protections of the Old Testament Law--was Paul referring to the Roman slave's status in these verses?  Contrast the status of slaves in the Old Testament: 

"The condition of a Hebrew servant was by no means intolerable. His master was admonished to treat him, not "as a bond-servant, but as an hired servant and as a sojourner," and, again, "not to rule over him with rigor." (Leviticus 25:39,40,43) At the termination of his servitude the master was enjoined not to "let him go away empty," but to remunerate him liberally out of his flock, his floor and his wine-press. (15:13,14) In the event of a Hebrew becoming the servant of a "stranger," meaning a non-Hebrew, the servitude could be terminated only in two ways, viz. by the arrival of the year of jubilee, or by the repayment to the master of the purchase money paid for the servant, after deducting a sum for the value of his services proportioned to the length of his servitude. (Leviticus 25:47-55)" (Smith's Bible Dictionary). 

I propose Paul had Roman slaves in mind when he was inspired to write these verses--his Gentile readers would immediately understand his meaning; if he was referring the Jewish slaves, he would have had to describe how they were different than Roman slaves, which he did not do.

Point?  The reversal is this:  Jesus, the King, the Son, the Son of David, the Darling of the Father, cast off His heavenly robes at an appointed time and took on the status of a Roman slave (lowest of the low) and walked among us.  That wee Baby, visited by kings (who was a king Himself) who acknowledged His royalty, was raised as a son of a carpenter, lived in a village with His brothers and sisters, was thirsty, hungry and walked with the lowly, the outcasts, the sinners. 

Last thought: We are all familiar with the parable of the sheep and the goats, where the King (Jesus) has rightfully returned to His throne and His judging the nations: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left." (Matt. 25:31-33). 

The sheep had responded to the cries of the world's beleaguered while the goats galloped on by.  Who are the beleaguered?  “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’"(Matt. 25: 34-36). 

If Jesus is our Emmanuel, the One who is God with us, then consider that Jesus was:

• Hungry and thirsty: out in the desert, facing privation as He battled Satan 
• Stranger:  to His own people who misinterpreted His claims and His mission with many turning against Him
• Needing clothes:  criminals were crucified naked; the Roman soldiers gambled for His tunic
• Sick: exhaustion and sorrow were His lot--read Isaiah 53 for His experiences even though the Gospels may not chronicle each instance
• Prison:  He was arrested and treated like a common criminal and His followers fled and denied Him

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’" (Matt. 25:40).

The King became a servant, walked with the lowly and calls us to do the same.  The Kingdom of God is an odd place to inhabit given how so opposite it is to the world, but it's a beautiful place for those whom the world casts out.  

That's where Jesus is standing with open arms. 

 

Reversal in Matthew 1: Shame Need Not Apply

Matthew chapter 1 is one of many examples where the Simple Kingdom, the Kingdom of God, is the utter opposite of this world's order, values and way of thinking. 

We have looked at the genealogy and found some pretty unsavory characters among the descendants of Jesus--oh, yeah...they are like you and me. Think of it like this:  If the list of biblical predecessors in Jesus' lineage was filled with wonderful, holy people, you could argue, Why did You come, Jesus?  There's enough good people in the world--look at Your family tree--we'll (of course I am in that group!) get by. 

But no.  Everyone is fallen: people in the past, present and future: 

"None is righteous, no, not one;
    no one understands;
    no one seeks for God.
All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
    no one does good,
    not even one.”
Their throat is an open grave;
    they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
“Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
    in their paths are ruin and misery,
    and the way of peace they have not known.”
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Romans 3:9-20)

Paul got it--he was a murderer after all, and so to be forgiven, freed and restored to do Kingdom work, was for him (and the rest of us) beyond comprehension. But it was true. Jesus came for people like us: "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." (Luke 5:32-34)

So, after seeing Jesus' genealogy as a rollcall of fallen humanity, let's go the next part of Matthew:  the birth of Jesus.

The reversals here jump out.  A young nondescript girl:

• Calls herself a humble servant (in Luke) 
• Hails from a small town ("Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" asks Nathaniel in John 1:46) 
• A virgin (Physically impossible)
• Pregnant before marriage (seriously sinful)

OK. That right there would be enough to remind us that His ways are not our ways: 

"Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God." (1 Cor. 1:26-29)

But Mary stands alongside her predecessors, Sarah and Hannah.  

Sarah was in a similar situation: She was barren due to her old age.  Perhaps, when she was younger, she could have had a child, but she didn't and now her age made this impossible. But God miraculously allowed her to conceive.  

Hannah was barren and could not have a child. She was of the right age, and prayed year after year for a child. God allowed her to miraculously conceive.

Mary was not married yet and hadn't had conjugal relations with her husband.  God allowed her to miraculously conceive. 

All three were in a world of shame.  But in the Kingdom of God, shame has no part in who we are. God allows us to become, in His power, all that we were meant to be. 

Even Joseph was filled with shame at what he perceived his wife had done (relations with another man) and was desperate to save her from "public disgrace" and so he was planning "to divorce her quietly."  Joseph's shame, however, did not blind him with such hurt or rage that he would allow Mary to be scorned or punished in her hometown--in his hurt, he still wanted to protect her.

In fact, Matthew calls Joseph, "righteous," and in the KJV, the word is "just."  That's a Kingdom word.  When the world tells you that you have every right to be angry, offended, hurt or misunderstood, and that you ought to fire all cylinders and punish those who have done this to you, a man like Joseph reminds us of the Kingdom way.  Look at the meanings of the word, "just," according to Strong's concordance: 

• "righteous, observing divine laws" 
• "in a wide sense, upright, righteous, virtuous, keeping the commands of God"
• "innocent, faultless, guiltless"
• "used of him whose way of thinking, feeling, and acting is wholly conformed to the will of God, and who therefore needs no rectification in the heart or life"
• "only Christ truly"
• "approved of or acceptable of God"

Wow.  Those are Kingdom definitions and what a lovely world it would be if these qualities were operating in everyone, all the time.  But wait!  Aren't we being made to be like Jesus?

• "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Gal. 2:20)
• "And to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness." (Eph. 4:24)
• "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren." (Romans 8:29)

So, even if the Kingdom of God is here, but not in an all-pervasive way (yet!), we can still operate with its qualities in our actions.  We can be the conduit for Jesus' love that pours love on shame, forgiveness on sin and hope on despair. 

  

A Walk in Matthew: Flipping the Script

We are going to tour the book of Matthew, to see where Jesus flips the script of what this world thinks is right to what His Father says is right. I chose Matthew because his gospel is aimed at primarily a Jewish audience.  He wanted to them to understand that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the Deliverer of Israel, the Messiah.  Jesus came to inaugurate the Kingdom of God once more--Adam and Eve having lost the first one due to disobedience.  Think of it this way:  God told them that they could eat of any tree in the Garden of Eden, including the Tree of Life.  But I believe Satan distracted them to that other tree, because that is the one that led to sin and death--the very business he's in.  

The Fall came because they disobeyed God's command about the tree; they ate of a fruit that allowed them to not only see good (they already had this with a beautiful garden inhabited by God) but to see evil as contrary to good, making good relative, as opposed to absolute.   

If you can see evil, you can do evil.  They ran and hid from God.  That is one definition of evil: You hide from God Who embodies good and you then define it based on your own knowledge, subject to the continuous whisperings of the enemy of your soul.     

Enter Jesus.  The D-Day of Redemption hit the shores of this sinful earth, and He came to undo, one person at a time, all of the evil pervading everywhere He looked. 

But to a Jewish audience, a claim of leadership, especially of Messiahship, required sterling credentials.  Sure, anyone could claim to be king or the Messiah, but was this person fulfilling the  requirements laid down by the prophets?  Excellent question and one Matthew hopes to answer by  Jesus's genealogy.  

Several reasons existed for why the Jews kept such detailed records:

A. Identity: You are a true child of Israel, inheriting all the blessings of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
B. Tribal Lands: Your tribe meant land and so who you are meant which real estate is rightfully yours.
C. Priest: You must prove descent from Aaron and the tribe of Levi; otherwise you could not serve as a priest.
D. Famous: If you were descended from one of the influential people of the Old Testament (Moses, Gideon, etc.) you were thought to receive a special blessing.
E. Family: The family was essential in Jewish culture and the parents handed down to their children their legacy and history.
F. The Messiah: The Old Testament said He would be the "Son of David," so being able to trace that lineage was crucial. Matthew places Jesus as being descended from David as well as from Abraham. Luke wrote for the Gentiles, thus tracing Jesus' lineage back to Adam. (1)

Matthew reinforces Jesus' Messianic claim by showing His direct descent from King David.  But who else is in the genealogy?  Wouldn't you expect it to be full of righteous people, noble and honorable?  The Messiah can't be descended from, well, those people!  But, guess what?  Those people are just like you and me, and the Messiah unites with us in kinship with fallen people.  He is perfect, but the people He's descended from are not. 

He reverses our notion that election comes from perfection.  Jesus makes common cause with humanity to save humanity. 

Here are just a few highlights of His predecessors:

• Abraham:  Faithful man of God who also tried to bypass the promise of an impossible conception by sleeping with his servant girl.
• Jacob:  Rascal, deceiver, and father of the nation of Israel, having been named as such after  fighting with God all night.
• Judah:  Sleeps with a supposed prostitute, then wants to have her killed, until he finds out he is the father of her children. 
• David: Great king but terrible father, adulterer and murderer.
• Solomon: Wise guy but had to figure out that all is vanity by indulging in it. 
• Manasseh: Brought back idol worship in Judea, undoing his father's legacy, practiced it himself and sacrificed his own son. 

See my point of reversal here?  God used ordinary, sinful, confused, conniving, immoral, well-intentioned people (like you and me) to lay the genealogical foundation for the Messiah, who would wrap Himself in our frail flesh to redeem our frail flesh.

Takeaway?  God uses us, whatever is in our past, to further His kingdom.  The perfect, the self-righteous, the I-am-no-longer-a-sinner types He passes on and looks to us: humble in our assessment of ourselves and knowing that we need a Savior. 

The Kingdom of God is made up of people just like you and me. 

 

(1) "Why Were Genealogies So Important to Israel?" https://www.gotquestions.org/genealogies-Israel.html  

The Simple Kingdom: Reversing the Curse

 There 's a lovely song that captures my new series of blogs.  It's called "Simple Kingdom."

Your Kingdom is simple, as simple as love, You welcome the children, You stop for the one.
We wanna see people the way Jesus does; Your Kingdom is simple, Lord, teach it to us.

Your Kingdom is humble, as humble as death, this King is a Savior who gave His last breath.
So we may die daily, our pride laid to rest, His Kingdom is humble, and the broken are blessed. 

Hallelujah, hallowed be Your name!  May we live and breathe Your praise!
And hallelujah, let all creation sing!  Oh, the King of Heaven reigns!

Your Kingdom is coming, Your Kingdom is here, alive in our waiting, our work and our tears.
So come to us quickly, forever our prayer; Your Kingdom is coming, Lord Jesus, come near.

Your Kingdom is backwards, it flows in reverse; what You call a treasure, this world calls a curse.
The small become great and the last become first, Your Kingdom is backwards

Lord, teach us to serve; as it is in Your Kingdom, let it be in Your church.

What is especially impactful is the last stanza, where it talks about reversals--how Jesus' death upon a cross with all of its shame and horror becomes a symbol of life, resurrection and freedom from sin.  The last in the Kingdom do become first.  God has not ignored the cries of the poor, the lost and the oppressed.  Jesus inaugurated His ministry with these words from Isaiah:

The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. (Luke 4:18-19)

Who needs the good news the most?  Those who the world says are of no value, or who have caused their own problems and deserve the consequences.  

Who needs to be free the most?  Those who are imprisoned by their choices and habits, and those who think a cell is the only thing they deserve in life.

Who needs to see the most?  Those whose eyes cannot see themselves as part of God's household.

Who needs to be set free the most?  Those who the world's system holds back, either with a denial of opportunity or of their personhood.

Who needs to enter into the year of God's love and saving touch upon our hearts?  All of us. 

C.S. Lewis equated Jesus's arrival into this world as an invasion:

“Why is God landing in this enemy-occupied world in disguise and starting a sort of secret society to undermine the devil? Why is He not landing in force, invading it? Is it that He is not strong enough? Well, Christians think He is going to land in force; we do not know when. But we can guess why He is delaying. He wants to give us the chance of joining His side freely. I do not suppose you and I would have though much of a Frenchman who waited till the Allies were marching into Germany and then announced he was on our side. God will invade."

I love the connection to D-Day.  The Allies land on the shores of France on June 6, 1944 to retake Europe out of the grip of evil.  

Jesus came to earth to retake earth out of the grip of evil.  

What if the Allies showed up and said to the Nazis, "You guys are doing some awful things.  You need to stop it.  Close down those camps and stop fighting.  Have a nice day!"  Then the Allies left.

No.  The evil in Europe was systemic, with its governments, resources and people all dedicated to one thing:  the takeover of the world and the annihilation of those who were deemed useless.  The Allies had to come in and fight each and every stronghold held by the Nazis and liberate those held captive in camp after camp, until not one was left operational, and the Nazis were defeated.

For years afterwards, the Allies sought to remove Nazism out of the population by reeducating them.  They needed to reframe their view of the world through the lens of freedom and democracy.  

Do you see my point?  Invasion was only the first step.  Fighting ensue so the war would cease.  The system that propagated the evil had to be dismantled and people had to be reformed, otherwise the removal of Nazism from Europe would have not succeeded.

Jesus invaded here by leaving the courts of heaven and landing on the shores of earth, ready to reverse the values of a fallen system to ones of His kingdom--the Kingdom of God, not a rubber-stamping of the kingdom already here.  He redeemed our hearts so the system of evil could be dismantled: one saved follower at a time.  

Only the return of Christ will inaugurate a complete restoration of this planet, but in the meantime, we as His followers have plenty of work to do. 

That is what I intend to explore here:  How the Kingdom of God is an utter reversal of what this world advocates.

Join me.